Need for more firefighters not being met

by Lauren McDowell
Staff Writer

Despite past assessments and surveys, a lack of funding appears to be key in the understaffing of the Athens Fire Department, a situation that has shown no improvement in more than five years.

Since three reports in two years were completed, the number of firefighters has remained around 25, despite the recommendation for more to be hired.

In 1997, two groups — the Athens Community Assessment Committee and Fitzpatrick and Associates Inc. from Cincinnati, which was hired by the fire department — released reports of shortages in the number of full-time Athens firefighters. 

The local committee suggested adding nearly 60 new positions, which was complemented by Fitzpatrick’s report suggesting the city increase its fire staff by 50 percent from its then-25 employees.

In 1999, another report was conducted, this time by Cincinnati-based Kramer and Associates Fire Consultants, also hired by the fire department. The second report confirmed what the 1997 reports suggested: Athens needs more firefighters.

But since these reports were released, the number of firefighters has remained at 25, including AFD Chief Bob Troxel. Only six firefighters are on duty at a time.

The reports also conducted studies of the number of firefighters needed to handle a fire in residence halls. As it stands, all 24 full-time firefighters would have to be on-call 24 hours a day if a large fire, such as one in a residence hall, were to break out.

Ohio University realizes its critical part in the problem; however, it does not give any funding directly to the AFD, said Leesa Brown, OU spokeswoman.

OU gives in other ways, such as its employees paying roughly $3 million in taxes, she said.

But Councilwoman Nancy Bain, D-3^rd ward, said money is a roadblock in the issue as increasing and collecting higher taxes is difficult in Athens because OU’s population makes up more than half of the taxable population.

In fact, all three reports mention the cost of the new positions as being expensive, totaling roughly $2.3 million each year.

These changes would more than double the funding for the AFD, which is just shy of $2 million every year, Athens City Auditor Jimmy Stewart said. The 24 full-time firefighters each make between $38,000 and $50,000 a year, comprising the majority of the budget.

Adding staff and spending money is not the only way to fix this problem, Bain said. Other options include implementing a volunteer fire department, charging more than the current $900 restitution for malicious false alarms and having police with fire-fighting skills.

“That would certainly give you more bang for your buck,” Bain said.

The management of calls could be another problem, she said. The AFD has different patterns of response than in the past. For example, sending two trucks to every alarm spreads personnel thin, Bain said.

“That’s a management problem,” she said.

But these suggestions might be oversimplified, Mayor Ric Abel said. Two trucks and six people responding to an alarm are a minimum for safety.

“They don’t know it’s a false alarm,” Abel said. “Do you want to gamble with a fire in your building?”

But the city continues to look at the issue.

“These issues are not new to us, we’ve heard it all before, and it’s all in context of what’s available,” Bain said. “Decisions on service have to be made in the context of reality.”